


Back Inside the Lines

by Avengers_Whore



Series: A Little Color Called Life [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha Harley Keener, Alpha James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Alpha/Beta, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Beta Sam Wilson, Epilepsy, Harley Keener is a Stark, Harley Stark, Kid Tony Stark, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Peter Parker, Omega Steve Rogers, Omega Tony Stark, Parent Bucky Barnes, Parent James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Parent Sam Wilson, Parent Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Seizures, Service Dogs, Toddler Peter Parker, first heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 03:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20988239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avengers_Whore/pseuds/Avengers_Whore
Summary: “Why do we even try to keep up with you people?” Sam grouched as he helped Steve put away everything in the kitchen. The beta was putting the glasses away in a cupboard, careful as he unpacked them from the box one by one. “Three kids and a house, I’ll never catch up.”“I don’t think it’s a competition, Sam,” Steve told him with a smile.





	Back Inside the Lines

**Author's Note:**

> I am so thankful for all of this love and now I am desperately in need of more ideas. And opinions! Tony's off to college soon and I need help on future crushes, dates, possible mates!

Tony kicked his legs back and forth on the examination table while Bruce wrote some things down on the boy’s physical sheet. Steve sat on a chair by the door, gently bouncing Peter on his leg. They were getting Tony’s physical done since he was supposed to start high school the following week.

“You know, I’ve never brought it up before because Tony was pretty young before, but have you guys considered a service dog for him?” Bruce asked, looking over at Steve curiously. The blond omega blinked and looked at Tony before turning his eyes back to Bruce.

“Bucky and I never talked about it, no. Honestly it’s never crossed our minds,” the omega answered honestly. Tony was practically buzzing at the thought of having a dog. “I don’t even know if our apartment could handle a dog.”

“It’s just something to think about. He’s going to be in high school now, if something were to happen, the dog could go get help,” the doctor explained, smiling when he saw the brunet boy practically jumping up and down where he sat.

“I’m not even gonna ask you, Tony, because I already know your answer,” Steve told the boy with a warm smile. He smiled at Bruce as the doctor handed over the school form and he stood up, putting Peter on his hip.

“So does that mean I can get a dog?” Tony asked brightly, hopping off of the table and following after his mother. He waved at Bruce as they left the exam room, taking his mother’s hand as they left the office.

“It’s a maybe. We have to see what daddy says,” the blond told him, gently squeezing his hand. They made their way to the car and Tony hopped in while Steve strapped Peter into his car seat. The trio drove back to their apartment and headed up the stairs, entering their home. Tony ran passed Steve’s legs into the apartment, intent on looking for his father.

“Daddy! Daddy, daddy!” Tony shouted. Steve rolled his eyes and set Peter down when the younger boy started squirming in his arms. Peter took off running after his brother, joining in shouting, “daddy” at the top of his lungs.

“Whoa, whoa! Steve, I’m being attacked!” Bucky called from the bedroom, followed by a very manly yelp and a thump as the alpha was presumably forced to the ground by the boys. Steve slowly made his way back to the bedroom, taking a picture with his phone when he found his mate on the ground with both of their pups sitting on his chest.

“Daddy, can we get a dog?” Tony asked, leaning over so he was looking right down at his father. Bucky’s eyes widened comically and he automatically opened to his mouth to give some kind of response.

“Okay, slow down, let’s give daddy some context, Tony,” Steve said, walking over and lifting first Peter and then Tony off of the brunet alpha. “Bruce suggested that we think about a service dog for Tony’s epilepsy.”

“Oh. Yeah, context is nice,” the alpha murmured as he got up and brushed himself off. “A service dog, huh?”

“Yeah!” Tony said, giving the alpha his best puppy eyes.

“Why don’t you go watch tv with your brother while mama and I talk, okay?” Bucky suggested, ruffling the boy’s hair. Tony nodded his head and took Peter’s hand, leading him out of the bedroom and towards the living room. Bucky closes the door and walks over to his mate, grasping his hips and leaning down to kiss him.

“We’re probably gonna have to move again,” Steve murmured against his alpha’s lips, wrapping his arms around broad shoulders. “Probably a house this time.”

“Yeah? You wanna buy a house with me?” Bucky teased, pulling back an inch to look down into his mate’s eyes.

“Well we’ve had the wedding, the pups, we’re getting a dog...yeah, we might as well tie it up with a house,” the blond told him with a wide smile on his face, getting up on his toes to nuzzle the taller man. “The white picket fence, the big backyard...all of it, alpha.”

-

“Why do we even try to keep up with you people?” Sam grouched as he helped Steve put away everything in the kitchen. The beta was putting the glasses away in a cupboard, careful as he unpacked them from the box one by one. “Three kids and a house, I’ll never catch up.”

“I don’t think it’s a competition, Sam,” Steve told him with a smile, chuckling as he stacked plates in another of the cupboards. The alphas were finishing up with the furniture and the kids were unpacking clothes in their own bedrooms with Harley and Wanda helping them.

“It’s totally a competition,” the beta muttered mutinously. “James! I want another baby!”

“Wait, what?” Rhodey exclaimed, followed by a heavy thump and a yelp.

“Dammit, Rhodey, yer gonna break my couch!” Bucky scolded, grouchy.

“Oh shut up, my crazy mate is at it again,” the other alpha retorted. The man appeared in the archway of the kitchen, his hands on his hips. “What the hell is going through your head, you crazy beta?”

“Hey! Get back here and help me move this couch!”

“Go help Bucky,” Sam sighed, pouting before turning back to the cups. Rhodey stared at Sam incredulously for a moment before heading back into the living room. Steve rolled his eyes and punched his friend in the shoulder, making the other man yelp.

“You’re crazy,” the omega told him with a shake of his head.

“Mom! Dad!” Harley shouted from upstairs. Steve immediately put a plate down and ran towards the stairs, right on Bucky’s heels since the alpha was closer to the stairs. They ran into Tony’s chosen bedroom and found Harley kneeling next to the seizing pup.

“How long?” Steve asked immediately, getting down next to the two boys. He and Bucky had long since gotten used to seeing their pup spasming on the floor at any given moment.

“Like 10 seconds, he dropped and I immediately shouted for you,” Harley told him, backing off as Bucky knelt down as well. They watched quietly, the alpha watching his watch while they waited for it to stop.

A full two minutes passed before the last of the muscle spasms ceased and left a trembling 10-year-old in their wake. The omega reached shaky hands up towards Bucky, who immediately brought the pup into his arms and held him.

“I’ve got you, baby boy, I’m right here. Daddy’s got you,” the alpha murmured soothingly, rocking back and forth while Tony calmed down.

“Do you know what triggered it?” Steve asked Harley quietly, getting up and pulling the teenager into a hug.

“Petey and Wanda were playing around with the lights,” the alpha told him softly, leaning into the blond’s embrace. The omega squeezed him reassuringly and kissed his temple.

“Okay, we’ll just remind them to be careful in the future.”

“Feeling better, baby boy?” Bucky asked Tony softly, gently stroking his fingers through the boy’s curls. Tony sluggishly nodded his head, his exhaustion evident on his face. “I think a nap’s in order. You can sleep in mama and daddy’s bed.”

“Okay,” the brunet whispered, leaning his head against the alpha’s shoulder. Bucky stood up and carried him down the hall to the master bedroom which was set up for the most part.

“Why don’t you go watch Wanda and Peter?” Steve suggested to Harley, who nodded his head and went to Peter’s room.

-

Steve and Bucky worked together with Bruce to find a few good candidates for service dogs. As much as it would be nice to get one that’s already trained, they insisted on finding a young puppy beginning their training.

They had to drive all the way to West Virginia but it was worth it when they brought the little puppy home. Morgan was a 6-month-old German Shepherd who knew her basic commands - sit, lie down, heel, etc. She had a leash and a service-dog-in-training vest. They just had to teach her how to predict and respond to Tony’s seizures, infrequent as they were.

So they got the dog settled and then started getting to work with lots of treats being involved.

“Follow Morgan,” Tony said, holding a small cookie in his hand and walking around the kitchen with the dog right by his side. He came to a stop and guided her between his legs. “Lie down.”

Morgan laid down right between his legs, her eyes and ears still on him as she waited either for the next command or her cookie. Tony smiled and gave her the cookie, which she took gently and ate happily.

Over a span of weeks, in which Tony had to start school without Morgan, they started training her to respond to seizures. The brunet spent quite a bit of time collapsing to the floor and pretending to seize so that Morgan could run off and go get either Steve or Bucky.

And they took her out in her vest wherever they went so she could get used to the chaos that was New York City, especially in places like Brooklyn and Manhattan which were their usual stomping grounds. After a month and a half, with no incidents occuring at school, Morgan was finally declared a fully-trained epilepsy alert dog and Tony could bring her to school with him.

-

Most omegas didn’t experience their first heats until they were somewhere between 14 and 16 years old, which was a generally good time since they were almost old enough to start thinking about mates and pups and the like. There were, of course, a few outliers. Some had their first heats early, some had them late.

Of course Tony had to be one of those outliers.

Steve sighed softly as he looked down at the feverish 12-year-old, running a gentle hand through the boy’s curls when he whimpered softly. Both were sitting in a sloppily-built nest since Tony had insisted he build his first one on his own.

“It hurts,” the brunet whined, writhing in the tangled blankets before curling up around the blond. “Mama…”

“I know, baby boy, I know...it’s only for a couple of days,” the older omega soothed, his heart aching at the thought of the pain and misery his baby boy was in. Steve looked up when there was a knock on the door and Bucky poked his head in, rumbling soothingly when he picked up the scent of distressed omega.

The alpha stepped further inside, carrying a tray that looked to be laden with light, finger foods and bottles of water. He came over and set the tray on the nightstand before sitting down on the edge of the bed. He leaned over and nuzzled the pre-teen, scenting over him protectively and surrounding him in the scent of alpha.

Omegas were very unpredictable when it came to their heats. Some found comfort in having other omegas around them while they were in heat while others got agitated and territorial about it, preferring just alphas or even betas to having another omega in their space. Even if the alpha was just the omega’s father, the scent of an alpha would soothe them.

“Daddy, it hurts,” Tony whimpered, reaching up and clinging onto the older brunet. Bucky chuckled and wrapped his arms around the omega, holding him close and rocking him soothingly like he used to when the pup was a toddler.

“I know, Tones, but it’s okay. It’ll be over soon and then we can talk to Bruce about other options, that’ll be nice, won’t it?”

“And one day you’ll have a mate who can take care of you,” Steve told him, pressing a kiss to the side of the omega’s head. They just had to help him through this first heat, watch him so he didn’t seize, and soothe him constantly. Morgan was curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed for moral support.

“R-Really?” Tony asked quietly.

“Of course, honey, and they’ll love you just as much as I love your mama,” Bucky told him, kissing the top of his head.

-

Steve hummed quietly as he folded laundry in the living room. Tony was on the floor doing his homework on the coffee table, content to just be around his mama. Both looked up when the door opened, revealing Bucky and little, 5-year-old Peter with his backpack strapped to his back.

And in his hands was a little plastic container with a-

“Why the hell does our son have a tarantula in his hands?” Steve yelled, jumping up and taking a few steps back from his mate and youngest pup. Even Tony had wide eyes at his little brother while Morgan happily greeted the other half of her family, tail wagging as she sniffed at the container. Bucky was carrying a terrarium in his arms, along with a few bags from a well-known pet store.

“Well we went to the mall to get him a new jacket since he outgrew his old one, right? And we walked passed the pet store and he wanted to go in so we did and then he saw the spiders…” Bucky trailed off at the glare he was getting from his omega. “Oh come on, Steve! He gave me the eyes! You know I can’t resist those puppy eyes!”

“It’s a _spider!_” Steve exclaimed, his hands on his hips.

“She’s really friendly, mama, I named her Karen!” Peter told him excitedly, a big grin on his face. “Daddy, can we go set everything up now?”

“Yeah, baby boy, let’s go before yer mama kills me,” Bucky said, gently herding the boy up the stairs so they could get everything set up. Tony watched them go before he snorted and then started giggling uncontrollably. He yelped when he was gently cuffed around the ear, looking up at his mother.

“It’s a spider!” Steve told him, his hands on his hips.

“Maybe Petey just wanted to be included. I got a dog, he obviously wanted a pet to call his own too,” Tony replied with a shrug and a smile. “Daddy’ll make sure Karen can’t get out of her tank, so what’s the harm?”

Steve sighed softly and slowly relaxed, sitting back down on the couch looking only slightly defeated and more than a little exasperated.

“I hate it when you’re right.”

Tony snorted softly again and finished up his homework before heading upstairs to go see the tarantula up close. Peter and Bucky were finishing up putting the terrarium together with all the plants and ground footing and a little water bowl. The little pup also opened up a small container of crickets and dumped them in.

“Alright, let’s introduce Karen to her new home,” Bucky said, picking up the little tank and opening it up. He turned it sideways in the tank and gently nudged the big spider out and into the bigger tank. Peter was practically vibrating with the excitement of having his own pet.

The three brunets watched as the tarantula calmly explored her new environment, crawling around the tank and looking everything over. Eventually Steve came up and joined them, looking only a little apprehensive as he wrapped his arms around the youngest of the trio.

“Can’t believe you convinced your daddy to buy you a tarantula,” the omega murmured, nuzzling Peter and tickling his sides which drew a squeal and giggle from the pup. Peter squirmed in his mother’s hold, continuing to squeal and giggle as he was tickled mercilessly. Bucky and Tony watched with happy smiles on their faces, the younger brunet leaning against the older.

-

“So you convinced Rhodey to get another pup, huh?” Steve teased as he sat down on a lawn chair next to Sam. They were watching Tony, Peter, and Wanda run around the backyard with Morgan barking and running after them. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon despite it being October already. The leaves were already changing colors and starting to fall which excited the pups beyond compare.

“Yes, I wore him down until he said yes,” Sam said with a grin on his face. “We are expecting a letter from our case worker any day now and I couldn’t be more excited.”

“Well good, I’m glad. I’m happy with my three, and one of them technically isn’t even mine,” the blond said with a small smile.

“Even when it’s just Peter still in the nest? Tony’s only got two more years of high school, what’re you gonna do when he goes off to college?”

“I won’t hesitate to punch you,” Steve grouched, pouting softly as he looked over at the aforementioned pre-teen. “Bucky thinks we should let him and I want to keep him for a few more years.”

“And what does Tony want?”

“Tony wants nothing more than to go to college and pretty much get as many degrees as he possibly can, the little genius that he is,” the omega told him with a roll of his eyes. “He’s so damn smart, Sam, I can barely keep up with him. I swear he’s going to change the world.”

“Don’t parents always say that about their pups?”

“Yeah, but I mean it, Sam. Tony and Harley...maybe even Peter, too, they’ll be unstoppable.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am so thankful for all of this love and now I am desperately in need of more ideas. And opinions! Tony's off to college soon and I need help on future crushes, dates, possible mates!


End file.
